Shattered Pictures
by swingsetxmemory
Summary: Although not all things appear as they seem. Everything may seem picture perfect, but there was more than just smiles to explain their relationship.
1. Clothing

TenTen sighed. She felt like something was missing in her life. Neji had been training more often, and he didn't pay attention to her anymore. Not like he ever did in the first place. TenTen knew that it was probably something like a picture. Everything seemed picture perfect between them, but there were more than just smiles to explain their relationship. 'Maybe if I change my appearance he'll begin to notice me…' she though to herself. TenTen glanced over at Neji, who was laughing with the heiress to his clan, Hinata. Hinata was beautiful, that wasn't a lie, but the Chuunin was also very shy. Hinata was always dressed nicely and her hair was always long, and kept nicely. TenTen looked at herself in the reflection of the water, her feet dangling over the bridge. Her brown hair was tied messily into two buns, her white and red Chinese-styled shirt were wrinkled, and her red pants were caked with mud and dirt from earlier training. TenTen smiled, she knew a perfect surprise for Neji! She was sure that he would be happy.

Neji sighed, he felt like something was missing in his life. He had to train more in order to become stronger so he could protect his loved ones, including TenTen. She had been recently ignoring him, and he had no clue why. People thought that their relationship was picture perfect, but he one hell of a story to tell if they asked him about it. His uncle had recently been pressing him to find a wife soon, maybe even marry Hinata, the soon-to-be heiress of the clan. Neji knew that his Uncle Hiashi only wanted that for appearances, if Hinata had a genius ninja for a husband, and a Hyuuga at that, Hinata would surely prosper. But, Neji would hang out with Hinata only so that his uncle wouldn't glare at him at home. It was already enough that he was a Branch family member. He had seen TenTen laughing with Naruto earlier; she seemed to have a good time. 'Maybe if I change my appearances she'll stop ignoring me…' Neji thought. He glanced over at TenTen, but found that she was gone. 'I thought she was mad at me,' he though and turned over to Hinata, who was training by his side. "I'm sorry Hinata-sama I have to go right now," he said to his cousin. Hinata nodded, "Alright then, I'll see you later…"

TenTen walked out of the clothing shop, happy at her purchases. She knew Neji would love this! She rushed home to change.

Fifteen minutes later, Neji walked in and purchased his own set of clothing. He smiled TenTen would be so surprised! He rushed home to the Hyuuga compound to begin changing.

As soon as she was done, TenTen ran to the Hyuuga compound, hoping to find Neji there. She saw Hinata walking out and TenTen hurried to pay her greetings. "Hello Hinata! Would you mind calling out Neji for me?" she asked. "T-TenTen? Is that really you?" Hinata asked. "Of course it is! Who did you think it was?" TenTen asked loudly, placing her hands on her hips. "Uh-um, never mind…I'd be glad to…" Hinata replied. TenTen grinned, "Thanks!"

"Neji…TenTen is here to see you…" Hinata began. Neji turned around, "Oh, really? Well, thank you for telling me Hinata-sama. I'll be sure to be right out." Hinata's face turned bright red as soon as she saw her cousin. "Neji?! Are you alright?" she asked. "I'm fine, what makes you think I'm not?" Neji asked. "Uh…nothing…" she replied.

TenTen waited patiently at the gates, hoping to see her boyfriend soon. "Neji!" she shouted, waving her arms. The gates were slowly opening. TenTen saw Neji, and burst out laughing, while Neji did the same thing.

"Wh-What are you dressed in?" TenTen asked between laughs. Instead of Neji's normal black and white garb, he was wearing a bright orange and red jacket, with matching pants. His hair was tied in a ponytail and he had on an idiotic grin. "You look like Naruto!" she laughed. "Well, what about you?!" Neji asked. TenTen's brown hair was let down and loose, and she wore a pale blue jacket with navy blue pants. Her hair had two light blue clips into them. She had a shy smile, before she burst out laughing. "You look a bit like Hinata-sama if I'm not mistaken," Neji retorted.

"Well, I thought you liked your noble cousin better than-" "Well, I thought you liked that idiotic ninja better than-" they both began. The couple then realized their mistakes and began laughing. "I was just training with her, nothing more, we have no relationship other than being fellow cousins, but her father thinks otherwise…" Neji explained. "And Naruto was only asking about weapon training but in a really idiotic way, there's nothing between us other than being fellow ninja…" TenTen said, grinning. "Appearances don't really matter, does it? I think our relationship is fine the way it is," Neji said. TenTen only agreed as they walked to the park together….

With the whole village laughing at them.

-0-

Back then, especially in Asian countries, marrying your cousin wasn't as wrong as it seems in the U.S. In fact, it was pretty common, especially in royal families where they wanted no "dirty" blood. So, I just decided to add this in the story.

A/N –

This is sillymail's number challenge, Clothing. Sucks, no? My story that is, I can't seem to have any ideas.


	2. Mud and Feathers

Neji had very many memories. Some were good others were not so good. Although he tried forgetting the bad memories, there were a few that were stuck in his mind. A nightmarish memory that started out as horrible but turned out to be for the better.

It was the day after his father had died and young Neji was silent. He did not wish to speak with anyone, and he did not wish to see anyone. Yet, he still attended the Ninja Academy, in order to become the strongest. He despised everyone, especially his cousin, Hinata, whom he was born to protect. He hated the cursed seal that destined his whole family. Moreover, he hated fate itself, fate was not on his side. Not now, not ever. He clenched his tiny fists. He was only a young boy, at his age, he should be smiling and playing, not worrying about death and fate.

There were very many cruel children in his class; in fact they were a group of bullies. Neji also despised them for they were spoiled children who had loving parents to defend them in everything. They were teasing a young girl who also had no parents; she lived with her abusive uncle.

"You're just another orphan girl! What're you gonna do about it? Huh!?"

"Yeah! We all know that your uncle hates you! You can't do a thing about it! How dare you try and be better than us in anything? You should stop fooling yourself and stop trying in life, 'cuz we all know you FAIL!"

The girl was only sitting there, hands over her head and crying. She did not try and stop the abusers, only taking it in. The bullies pushed her into the wet mud, for they were in the park and it had started raining. They were laughing cruelly, making fun of the fact that she was an orphan. This sort of thing made Neji's blood boil, he didn't care who the girl was, but they had no right to treat her that way over something she could not control. They were putting a bucket of white feathers over her head, the feathers stuck to the young girl. Neji fumed.

He walked on over to the boys and kicked their heads in, face in the mud. "What do you think you are doing? How dare you treat someone like that over something they can't control?!" He beat the bullies until they were very sorry for the crimes they have committed. Neji turned to the girl and helped her up, grabbing her hand. "Here, let me help you up…" he said, smiling.

-0-

A/N –

I know, it's not depressing yet, but it will be. I have a tendency to write depressing stories, I don't know why. And if you haven't guessed who the girl is yet, I have nothing to say to you.


	3. Destruction

War was approaching in Konoha. War. It was more of a death sentence than a word. A death sentence…death, they were all too depressing to bring up. There were a few ninja who didn't mind kicking some Sound-nin butt, but there were some ninja who were indeed, very worried.

The clouds were gray and the air was humid. It was going to rain very soon, perfect weather for war. All ANBU were in the forest ready to ambush, the Jounins were in the very front of Konoha with the Chuunins backing them up. The Genin were in the Hokage Mountains, protecting the civilians, ready for a fight if need be. The Hokage, Tsunade, was directing the war, setting plans and Shizune was directing the medic-nin in Konoha Hospital. They were expecting an attack at any time.

A week passed by and no one attacked, a week passed by and the ANBU were still in the forest. Another week passed by and the civilians were tired of living in a cave, and a week passed by and the Jounins were restless. On the third week, the Sound-nin attacked, when no one was expecting it. The numbers were high, but some looked a bit worn out. All reported ANBU were dead, some were close to being dead. It was an all-out battle. Days passed. The sun rose, and the sun set. The moon shined, and the stars twinkled, all during the most difficult war yet. There were two villages against one, the Sound-nin and the Rock-nin against the Leaf-nin. 'Where is the Sand-nin?' Neji though. He was sure that they had sent their fastest messenger bird a little while ago. 'Shit,' he cursed. Konoha was screwed, and he knew it.

Days passed, and the war raged on. Many ninjas were dead, fellow friends and family lay bleeding to their deaths. The medic-nins were running low on supplies and there was little they could do. They had found out that Kabuto was leading the war, and that many "experiments" were fighting. Neji couldn't believe how many lives Orochimaru had played with. Some of his experiments weren't even human anymore and it was disgusting. They only thought of life as a game? It was absurd it was madness.

Neji didn't know how TenTen was doing, nor did he want to know. If his girlfriend lay dead, he didn't know what he would do, or could do for that matter. Many ninjas that went against the male Jounin, lay dead but he was getting tired himself. He lacked a good meal and rest for many days now. Neji was faltering. He needed to find TenTen, he didn't feel like he could last much longer.

He entered the village, but it didn't look like a village anymore. Many shops and homes were ruined and many trees were uprooted. Blood was splattered everywhere and many ninjas were laying to their deaths, crying or shouting. He heard the clanging of weapons and the sound of techniques being shouted. Destruction. That was the only thing war brought. It never brought peace or contracts, hell those contracts were just signs of surrender forged with fake peace and happiness. It was only temporary.

Neji used his Byakagun to try and find TenTen, to no luck. Neji grabbed his abdomen and saw that he was bleeding. 'I didn't notice this before…' he thought, consciousness was fading from him. He collapsed, vulnerable to anyone trying to kill him.

'Neji…' TenTen thought, something told her he wasn't doing so well. She frowned as she fought many enemies, only to be defeated by her. She was tired of fighting and hoped that someone would surrender or retreat soon, it didn't really matter which side did it first. Ninja after ninja, they just didn't quit. She rushed into the village, hoping that no one would follow her. She was going to look for Neji and hope that she could find him.

"Neji!" Sakura shouted. She saw the young Jounin lying on the ground, bleeding badly. Sakura bit her lower lip; she was running out of space in the hospital, she would have to squeeze him in and treat him herself. She lifted him up and ran towards the hospital and noticed he was bleeding mainly from the abdomen, the other injuries weren't as severe and he could live if she didn't treat them. They were running out of bandages as well.

TenTen looked around, Konoha didn't even look like a village anymore. She couldn't see anyone that resembled Neji nor did she see anyone who was easily recognizable as a human. Every ninja she saw were either dead or close to death. She wondered if the civilians were doing okay, since only Genin and maybe a few Chuunin were with them. She rushed to find him, but was suddenly stopped by a Sound-nin. 'Crap,' she thought.

-0-

A/N -- This really doesn't explain much, I know. Although it doesn't point out their relationship, it shows that they care for each other very much. The next chapter will be a fighting scene; so don't expect too much Neji x TenTen action. I will try to put that scene in as much as possible. From now on, it will be more of a story then drabbles, although some might be memories. Tell me what you think so far though.


	4. Music

TenTen was prepared for battle, and was ready to summon weapons from her big scroll. The Sound-nin only smirked at her and said, "Weapons will not do good against my soothing music…"

Neji awoke to find himself in a clean, white room instead of the dirty streets of Konoha. He was well aware that he was in a hospital. The only problem being, who brought him here, and where was TenTen? He pushed himself up, only to wince in pain. He saw that only his abdomen had been bandaged and healed, the minor injuries were barely bleeding but had not been fully healed nor bandaged. He knew the hospital was low on supplies, but he wondered what they would've done if he had more serious injuries. He looked out the window to find that the war was still going on, and there was still no sign of TenTen.

TenTen gritted her teeth, she tried using a spiked bomb to get away, but the Sound-nin had quickly caught up to her. She was exhausted and almost out of chakra, she had to get to some place to rest quickly. She could only use one thing in a situation like this, Soshoryu.

The dozens of weapons came out of her scroll so quickly, it blinded her opponent, and her aim was perfect as she aimed at her opponent's vital points. The Sound-nin grunted, he was screwed but he knew the girl was too. He took out a small instrument and began to play a soothing melody on it. TenTen felt irresistible pain in her head, her stomach, and in her legs. TenTen screamed inside, but tried to keep calm on the outside as she was visibly shaking from the pain. She kept on throwing weapons and tried to ignore the music. 'I have to meet Neji once more, to make sure he's okay' she thought. TenTen knew her opponent's weakness, when he was playing the music, he could not move, but TenTen's movements were becoming slower and slower. She was being paralyzed by the music, and the pain inside of her was increasing. 'Shit,' she thought.

The Sound-nin was surprised that the young girl could summon so many weapons and hit him so many times, he knew that she was low on chakra and weapons, yet she made a risky decision in summoning that technique. He only smirked, not many people had ever hurt him seriously after he hummed the first note on his instrument. He was amazed and surprised by her determination. He was getting tired of playing with the Konoha ninja; he had many other techniques up his sleeve yet he never had to use them. He hated his village, Otaguruke, and only worked for them because of the fact that no one else would. He blew the last note of his death song loudly and walked away as the girl collapsed. "Wait…" he heard her say, "Please…tell…" and she said no more. He only smiled thinking, 'this is fun…playing with people's lives. I'm betting this is what you thought, Orochimaru…'

TenTen cried she knew she didn't have much time if she didn't make it to the hospital on time. She struggled to sit up as she coughed up blood. The pain was unbearable the paralyzing spell he had put her under was slowly fading away as she could move her legs again. She slowly got up and wobbled a little as she placed a hand on the wall. She was too dizzy to tell where she was bleeding from the most. She grunted, as she started slowly walked towards the hospital.

"Neji?" Sakura asked softly. He grunted, he didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, not when he was concentrating on what to do. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'll be out of the hospital quickly so you can have more room for your other patients," he replied. "Oh, well…I wasn't going to ask about that but…now that you mention it, thanks," she said. She placed a glass cup on the bedside table. "You should at least rest for an another hour or so though, please try and get to where the civilians are. In your condition, you can't even fight a Chuunin ranked ninja," she said. She bit her lower lip, "I'll be on the lookout for TenTen, so don't worry. If I see her, I'll personally try and find you to tell you her condition," she said. "Thanks Sakura, but I think I'll look for her on my own," Neji said. Sakura nodded her head and exited the room.

TenTen was losing vision fast and it took all she could just to lean her weight on the wall. "Neji…" she said softly, she needed help. She was breathing heavily as suddenly, consciousness escaped from her and she collapsed.

Neji was about to reach for the glass cup, when it cracked. A bad omen. 'TenTen,' he thought, something was wrong. He quickly got out of the hospital bed and took a closer look out of the window. People were still fighting, and he saw no sign of TenTen. He rushed out of the hospital room, wincing in pain. He knew better than to get into a fight. He concealed his chakra and snuck around Konoha, looking. Neji knew better than to do this, but he couldn't help it, he was worried. 'Crap…' he thought, his wound had re-opened. 'At a time like this, I should get back to somewhere safe or even to the hospital, but…' He knew better than to make stupid mistakes and hurriedly tightened his bandages, hoping to close the wound.

He walked into an alleyway, and tried camouflaging himself as another dead ninja. He lay over on his stomach and closed his eyes, trying to analyze what to do next. He sounded like Shikamaru at a time like this, but unlike the Chuunin, Neji wasn't as smart. He couldn't help but wonder if TenTen were dead, or even close to dying somewhere, in fact he didn't want to think at all. He grimaced as the pain in his stomach reoccurred. He suddenly saw a bright light, a bright path in front of him, and the sound of a lullaby playing. Neji smiled, not realizing that he was unconscious.

A/N –

Yikes. My writing skills have gotten worse, and my chapters have gotten shorter…


	5. Tooth

It was a sound of a lullaby playing, a sound from long ago, when both of his parents were alive. Back when smiles were plenty and frowns were rare, back when fate and destiny didn't matter and back when war wasn't a problem. Back when there was peace and love, back when friends were there for you, back when everyone was…alive. He wished he could go back to that time. But, he knew it was impossible, the past was the past and he could only hope that history repeated itself for the better. Neji was unconscious and in a serious condition, because of the earlier treatment, it wouldn't harm his life, but any more blood loss and it would. The only thing on his sleeping mind was TenTen.

Medic-nins were scouring the village for any Konoha ninja that might be injured. Sakura had gone out to get some fresh air; being cooped up in the hospital for weeks wasn't good for her skin. She wondered if everyone else was okay, out of the Konoha 11, she was the only one not fighting. At first, she had protested, but Tsunade had firmly refused to let one of their best medic-nins to fight. Sakura sighed; she hadn't seen any of the Konoha 11 except for Neji. She knew that everyone else were either still fighting, or dead. She hoped that everyone was alive and well… She scanned the city with her emerald green eyes, and leaned over the high balcony. She saw a small figure, wearing red and white clothing near the hospital entrance in the back. The figure wasn't moving and was probably in critical condition. Sakura squinted and saw the figure was indeed female and had two dark brown buns…TenTen! Sakura hurriedly rushed down and turned TenTen over. TenTen was bleeding heavily and was unconscious, her breathing was shallow, and her heartbeat was faint. 'She's minutes away from death…' Sakura thought while picking up the Chuunin and running into the hospital.

Kabuto smiled as he leaned against the wall of the alleyway. Without Orochimaru, it felt a little lonely. He swore he would get revenge against the young boy that had killed him, but he knew that it was impossible. If _that boy _could beat a Sannin, there was no telling on what the boy could do to him. Instead, he swore to get revenge against Konoha for his master. He knew that Orochimaru had hated Konoha with a passion. Orochimaru had lost his dreams, twice, in Konoha. He had been the genius student of the third Hokage, and was on his way to becoming Hokage himself, which was one of his goals to become more powerful, his true dream. Years later, his own teacher would disable his arms, the two things absolutely necessary to use techniques. Kabuto had come from Konoha himself, he knew this village was like the other villages. This village may have been more powerful, more prosperous, and maybe even bigger than the other villages, but they were no different that any other village who would shun anyone different than them. They praised the powerful, looked down on the weak, and would even go so far as to shun a little boy who had no idea on why he was hated. Kabuto respected that little boy; that little boy had ignored the fact that he was a demon, and focused on being the carefree boy he was. Kabuto admired that; he wanted to be like that, to ignore his inner self. In fact, that boy was the inspiration for Kabuto's integration with Orochimaru's remains. He thought about his master's dreams. His master had wanted to learn every technique possible, and once that was accomplished, he wanted to learn the truth of life. An honorable dream, but in order for that dream to be accomplished, he would have to obtain immorality, which he had. Dreams. They were silly and childish, yet everyone had them. Kabuto smiled, his dream was to become even more powerful than his master, a threat indeed. He walked down the alleyway and saw an unconscious ninja, lying face down. 'His life is in danger…' he thought. Kabuto squatted down, and turned the ninja over. He was not above helping his enemies. Kabuto started healing the ninja, who was indeed male. Kabuto knew he had seen this face before, but where? Suddenly, realization had hit him; Kabuto smiled even bigger, his white teeth showing, as he recognized whom the ninja was.

"TenTen?" Sakura asked. Sakura sighed, she was very tired and wanted to sleep very badly. TenTen moaned; she was in deep pain and still unconscious. Sakura frowned; TenTen was suffering from chakra depletion, severe wounds, and even poisoning. It was a surprise that the kunoichi was even alive. She wondered if Neji were still in his room, she would have to tell him that TenTen was alive…for now. Sakura got up and brushed her skirt, she walked out, looking behind her. They had requested for Suna to bring medical supplies or ninjas to fight. For some reason, Suna was still not answering. 'Could they be in danger?' she asked herself. With Gaara as Kazekage, she wondered what danger they could be in. 'War?' she asked herself, and shook her head. She knocked lightly on Neji's door and found no reply. She frowned, and pushed open the door. She looked in, and to her horror, found that Neji was not there. Her mind quickly panicked as she realized he could only be doing one thing, looking for TenTen. "Damn it, just after we got her…" Sakura cursed. She ran towards the open window, the white curtains blowing, and peered over. She felt agitated being a medic-nin was depressing; watching people as they slowly faded away was horrifying, especially if they were your friends. Sakura looked up, looking as the birds circled around in the sky. The sun was clear, and the clouds looked perfect for cloud watching, a hobby Shikamaru and Chouji both enjoyed. She had never tried it herself, but during a time of war, it sounded nice. It looked peaceful, but there was more than looks to explain the turmoil happening in the depths of the forest and the village.

Sakura wished for the peaceful days she had when she was a Genin. The days where no one had to worry and they only had to rely on their Sensei. The days where injuries were common, but deaths were rare. The days where smiles were plentiful and laughter was the only sound heard. The days where tears were gone and bloodshed was something no one had ever seen. Then again, for some people, those days were pure Hell. For some people, they had seen bloodshed at a young age, they had cried endless tears, and they had filled up with thoughts of revenge and turned away at the word 'trust'. For some people, they were an outcast, they hadn't ever laughed with anyone or even smiled with a friend. They were always alone. When she though about it, Sakura had it good. She had a loving family; she had people who she could trust. Of course, when she was younger, she was bullied, but that was nothing to compared to other peoples' problems. She remembered the promise from long ago, the promise to protect her friends and the promise to bring her teammate back. Promises. Trust. Friends. She smirked; she wished those were helpful during war.

Kabuto looked out of the alleyway carefully, slinging the Jounin over his shoulder. He made sure that there were no ninjas nearby and carefully concealed his chakra. He hadn't gone into battle yet, and didn't plan to. His disguise was perfect and he ran into the forest, smiling. He would make the Sound and Rock-nins retreat soon. He needed everything to work according to his will. 'Master, your dream might come true after all…' Kabuto thought.

Somewhere in the Hyuuga household, in the Branch division, a picture stood. The picture was framed and stood straight up on a small table right next to a neatly made bed. The room was bright and neat, it smelled of lavender because of the nearby gardens. The picture showed two people, a teenage boy and girl. They stood next to each other holding hands, smiles pasted on their faces. It looked peaceful, as the cherry blossoms fell in the background, and the relationship between the two ninjas was evident. The picture held a memory that would last a lifetime. Suddenly, the picture cracked on the boy's face, shattering the glass keeping the picture in the frame. The picture slowly fell to the ground, landing face down.

A/N –

I'm SO sorry, but I won't be able to update for a while. Something personal has come up and I will be really busy. Also, I start school this month and my mother is really strict about the computer then, so I'll still try and update as much as I can!


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